Politics 101
by christinaspencer
Summary: takes place after "choice of a new generation" YAY I get to work with a character who, while very rarely seen, but his presence weighed heavily on the actions, inaction's, and hard choices, of other well-known characters! Not to mention it helps me cope in a mad world. Enjoy, R R if you can. Have a good day!
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**  
THREESOME

Day One  
The City  
 _"You know what, Simon. Honestly I can't stand the sight of_  
 _you... I mean there was my father, there was Ned Grossberg... but_  
 _you... are the worst... you are the one who had a choice... to finally_  
 _do the right thing... everything my father hated me for, and_  
 _everything Ned Grossberg used me for... it was YOU, and YOUR_  
 _kind... that made it all possible... they never would have gotten_  
 _away with it, if not for scum like you!"_  
 _"Oh, well bravo!" Simon sneered, clapping as he did so. "Well,_  
 _now you just proved it all and in only a few minutes, by coming in_  
 _here, by hacking my computers and taking my money, hacking_  
 _networks all over the city! For the second time, I might add!"_  
 _Dirk and a few others started clapping again._  
 _Simon Peller smiled in triumph._  
 _"Enlighten me again! Why shouldn't we be afraid of you?"_

 _His answer came in the form of an electrical current that surged_  
 _throughout his office, blowing out the microwave, the coffee pot,_  
 _the vidi-phones and the tv screen too. Simon and the others rushed_  
 _to the center of the room, and there was no electronic device left,_  
 _that was not a smoking ruin._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"My eyes... my eyes... MY EYES I CAN'T SEE, I'M BLIND!"

Gabrielle Roberts, loyal secretary to Simon Peller, jumped up from her chair as soon as she heard the explosion, then she ducked and dodged as everyone fled. She carefully made her way to his side, as he lay on the floor, twisting and turning slowly.  
"Mr. Peller!"  
Gabrielle, that thing blinded me! That little mutant bitch took my eyesight!"  
She began to cry as she tried to get him into a sitting position. "What do I do?!"  
"Call a goddamn ambulance! The metro-police chief! Quickly, Gabrielle!"  
"Right... you're doing the right thing, Mr. Peller. They hate you cause you are right, and-"  
"NOW GABRIELLE!"  
Sobbing, she ran from the building and flagged down a metro-cop.  
Simon Peller was right.  
All mutants were terrorists!

Day Two  
The City  
"Harriet Garth! Thank you for coming by!"

She entered the office of Donald Cochran, with a bright smile, handed him her coat, then sat down in a chair.  
"Valerie! Coffee, please. Two cups!" Donald spoke into his intercom.  
"Please, I can't! I find my nerves a little on edge."  
"So you got into the hospital. How is that rat, Simon Peller?"  
"Still a rat!"  
"Yes. So tragic he lost his eyesight," Donald replied with a smile.  
"He got it back! A representative of Zik Zak was there, and paid for the operation. He's going under, tonight. There was also some mention of "extra equipment" in dealing with the mutant-menace. Maybe it bears looking into," she said tiredly. "But I think my main concern is valid; how can this work for me? My last run against Simon Peller was... less than optimal. It just gets harder now!"  
"Well, that's why we are here now," he smiled assuredly. "Because the future is bright, Harriet. The brightest light you have ever seen!"  
Harriet Garth perked up a little. Then she smiled, finally.  
"I hope so! This is extreme. Like nothing we have seen before. It's a new day and a new age. It's a battle for equality in the truest sense of the word!"

Day 30  
Norway.  
"I'm fucking cold!" Christina yelled out, as she trailed behind Kyle, trudging down the snowy sidewalk. She pulled her parka in tighter. Does it ever NOT snow in Norway?"  
"I can no longer detect the presence of my ass!" Kyle agreed "it's still there, right?"  
"We really must protect that ass!" Christina replied.  
They approached the front door and looked at the sign.  
"Helse Bergen Institute for the Insane," Christina read aloud.  
There was several moments of silence, and then Kyle finally spoke.  
"This was the only place far enough away, that would take him."  
He frowned, and turned an ugly shade of green.  
"I feel them all. Every damn one."  
She put her arm around his waist, shifted the bag with her other arm. Slowly and carefully, they entered the building.  
The first scream from one of the patients made Christina jump.  
"I'm ok. I got my second wind!" Kyle said.  
"We... doing a good thing!" Christina said, as they approached the nurses station and checked in.  
"Right!" Kyle told her. "I've always wondered how things might have been if my brother wasn't insane. Guess I'll find out, huh princess?"

Christina began sobbing at the sight of Kyle's fraternal twin brother, in a straight jacked and rolling around on the floor, and moaning loudly.  
"This is actually one of his better days," Kyle sighed. "Ok, what will you do? Christina!"  
"Pa... patches! A... re-routing of the neurons and... Max gave me... the idea... something that happened to Ed... "  
She wiped a hand across her face, dragging away heavy tears and snot.

""Hey there, brother. I'm glad to see you too!"  
Tommy stopped moaning, grinned a tiny bit, then went back to moaning.  
" _Myelin sheaths_!" Christina shouted.  
Tommy began to howl.  
"Ah, crap! I wanted to join you in VR. I think it's best I stay here, and hold him down. Hey, come on bro! No fighting! My princess here is gonna perform a miracle on you!"

"Dummy!" Christina scolded her lover. She sat down by the two of them, and pulled two VR headsets from her bag.

"It's not a miracle. It's science!"


	2. Chapter 2

From the vantage point at the train station, Tommy looked out over the city.

The lights barely sparkled in the smoggy air, but the hum of activity

was pretty audible. A mixture of cars, and people and machinery. Most

of the noise consolidated into a slightly irritating humming noise.  
"It's different than I imagined it," Tommy said finally.  
Kyle frowned.  
"Sorry, bro! I guess my communication skills are not as awesome as

princess."  
It's ok, there's only so much recap you can give me for 21 years I never got."

"As long as we remember the important bits! Ok, let's recall those!"

Christina said, looking at Tommy, who had now fallen silent.

"It's ok! Don't get confused... concentrate," Kyle admonished.

Tommy looked at him with frightened eyes. "I'm so glad people talked

to me! That they read to me. They left me with magazines once. I looked

at them, and then ate them... I'm so glad cos I think I still got enough...

understanding!"  
"Tommy!" Christina poked him gently.

"Thomas Cheviot. I'm Kyle's cousin who attended a private boarding in

Switzerland. I'm 23 years, like football and classical music... " he pulled

out the paperwork Christina had made for him. "This is so illegal!" he

intoned.  
Christina shrugged.  
Tommy nodded in understanding. "I don't care... much... that guy...

Peller... he sounds like an awful person."  
"Monsters come in many forms," Christina stated. "Ok, enough! Let's get

going! That metro-cop is looking at me weird!"  
Kyle slung an arm around her soldier. "We're on the way!"

It was in the heart of downtown, and about 15 blocks to Network 23,

when Tommy stopped. He sat down on the curb.  
"I'm not ready. I'm not ready to see dad, yet!"  
"I never am," Kyle admitted, sitting down beside his brother.

Christina moved in between the two.  
"You wont's see him now. It's 3am. We're going to see Bryce."  
"Mr. Fun guy!" Kyle laughed.  
"You'll like him. He's just like us," Christina smiled at him.  
"Dad is ashamed of me," Tommy lamented.  
"He loves you... he kept you safe," Kyle resigned.  
"But he sent me to Norway! And he didn't even send me a card... or was

that the one I ate? Still... wasn't right!"

Christina stood up suddenly. "You hear that?!"  
Kyle stood up. "Ah... sounds like metal across pavement... like

footsteps."  
The threesome turned ad began walking fast in the opposite direction.  
"Whatever happens... don't look back... so I'm told," Christina ordered.  
"It's human... happy, excited... nervous."  
"Eh?" Christina asked, a little confused.  
The stomping got louder and the IT came out of the shadows.  
"AAAAG!" Tommy screamed.  
"It's a... robot?!" Christina shouted.  
Indeed it was; a humanoid in shape, and covered in army-camoflage

paint. It had a oblong-shaped head with three vision sensors that

served as eyes, and a speaker where the mouth would be.  
"FREEZE, MUTANTS! YOU ARE UNDER EXTREME ARREST!"  
"Run!" Kyle ordered his brother.  
"Jesus!" Christina said, as two small rocket launchers locked into

position.

\- - -  
Whether it was fate, or whether it was amazing ability to comprehend

written and verbal instructions, Tommy was able to make it to Network

23 where he hid in the parking garage and remained undetected until

he finally got up the nerve to enter the building.  
He pulled out Kyles notes and looked at them for 10 seconds, then

stuffed them back into his coat pocket.  
"Oh man! Oh God... oh shit on a pogo stick! I hope my dad is not

around!"  
He pulled out Kyle's papers from his coat and read them carefully. He

put them back carefully, and quietly into the building. Making his way

through all the security checkpoints with the codes Kyle gave him(the

same codes Ben Cheviot still had not changed yet), he found the office

he was looking for.  
"Reeeeesearch and Deeeevelopment. Good gosh, this is it!" he gasped

in joy.

"Freeze! Hands up! Move and die!"  
Tommy looked around frantically. Then he noticed the intercom. He

went up to it, touched it, then stroked his hands across the speaker.  
"What do you want?!" the voice demanded.  
"Ah... yes. I'm looking for Bryce Lynch.. please let me in! I don't feel safe

out here!"  
"Tell me who you are! A spy for Simon Peller? Hey I been cleared!

Network 23's "property", and in no wise am I to leave or otherwise be

removed, against my will, from the building. In accordance with city

ordinance 55-667 and associated with my contract, especially in

reference to Section 45, Paragraph K which states, and I quote, leave me

alone!"  
"Kyle and Christina sent me!" Tommy shouted into the speaker. He

collapsed against the wall, slapped a hand to his head, and moaned.

The door swung open and Tommy fell forward, into Bryce's arms.  
"Get in here! Hurry. It's past curfew and you don't have a contract! Ok,

wait here!"

Bryce left Tommy off the floor, and ran out of the lab.  
"Too much noise!" Tommy sighed.  
At first he was fascinated by all the sights and sounds. They left the

hospital 3 months ago, and traveled through four countries on their

way back to the city. He didn't even mind the delays when Kyle and

Christina had to hide from suspicious authorities. One time they hid in a

forest and Tommy saw a bear! He so wanted to hug it, but Christina and

Kyle wouldn't let him.  
Now it was 3 months in his new life, and he was starting to tire of all the

noise.  
Now Kyle and Christina had been taken by a monster, and he was afraid.  
"I didn't find them, spy!" Bryce stomped back in. Tommy emptied out

his pockets. "This is all I got. I'm being honest. See the codes? Kyle gave

them to me. My... ah, my uncle never changed the door codes."  
"Your uncle?"  
"I'm Kyles cousin, Thomas. I was in a boarding school in Switzerland,

and they stayed with me... and I like football."  
"In Switzerland... " he repeated with skepticism.  
"I like classical music too."  
"Where are my friends!?" Bryce demanded.  
"I... there was this monster, and it grabbed them. It was like shiny... it

was metal and it had these tubes on its back that shot out bombs and it

also had stingers in its... uh, claws."

Bryce felt sick. He had learned of some new alter-hunting machines that

were immune to most known super-powers. Secret information

told Bryce that they were a gift from Zik Zak, for Simon Peller. They

were supposed to be used against alters.  
Apparently the rumors were true!  
"Sit down... in that chair. You want me to call Mr. Cheviot?"  
"No! Ah... no I'd rather you didn't."  
Bryce glowered at him. "I'm sorry but you can't stay. There's no room. I

got a roommate."  
His only roommate was Max, actually, but Thomas didn't need to know

that. And besides, Murray's daughter was coming to the city to register

as an alter. He had already promised the extra cot to her.  
"Well... let's try to find my friends first. I heard there's a secret prison on

the outside of the city. It's possible they were taken there."  
"Oh, no!" Tommy moaned.  
"Relax. They're just detainment centers. They keep alters away from

'normal' people... whatever that means... "  
Oh," Tommy said "we can wait right? I mean... well I'd rather Kyle and

Christina be with me when I see... uncle Ben... It's been a long time... "  
"Ok," Bryce agreed. "I won't say anything."


	3. Chapter 3

ONE TIME ONLY

"Where am I?!"

Christina got to her feet, and fell forward. "Ow! Goddammit!"

She found herself in a square chamber, with bars on the outside, and inside it was surrounded on all four sides by clear, fiberglass walls.

"Hey!" she called out.

Looking past her prison, she saw it was located in a very large, dingy room, with many other cages like the one she was confined in. All were empty.

"Let me out!" she yelled, banging on the glass.

Lights came on, and a door at the far end swung open.

"No," Christina whispered, as the monster robot marched into the room. "Back, just get... don't come near me!"

Christina fell backwards, bounced off the fiberglass and slid to the floor. The monster ran for the cage, and slammed into it, then stepped back.

"God, that hurt!" it called out. Then the front panels opened, and out jumped a short, heavy man with black hair.

"Hot in there. Damn."

The man straightened up, dusted himself off, then hit a button on the inside of the robot, powering it down.

"Who are you! Hey, asshole, I'm talking to you!"

He got close to the glass enclosure. "Wow. A mutant. I've never been this close to a mutant before!"

His eyes were wide in awe and wonder. Christina just glowered at him.

"Harvey!" he pointed to himself "you're Christina Campbell... the one who gave the good Mr. Peller such a hard time."

"Bullshit and fuck Simon Peller!" she yelled, slamming her hands on the glass. It was then she noticed there were hard metal bands wrapped over her wrists.

Harvey noticed the surprise on her face and pointed. "You can't hurt anyone with those on."

"Dammit!" Christina moaned.

"I think they're nice and shiny," Harvey tried in an attempt to get on her good side... well, he could only hope she had one.

The door at the far end swung open, and two people came in. One was a blonde haired woman, and she was clinging to the arm of

"Simon!" Christina hissed. She tensed up as he strode fast to her prison.

"Away, Harvey! Get back and take the robot with you!"

Christina shrunk back as Simon slapped his hands on the cage, making it shake.

"Christina! It's been a long time! But really it seems like yesterday, when you tried to murder me!"

"Sorry I didn't succeed!" Christina snapped back.

"You blinded him, you little bitch!" the blonde woman yelled at her.

"Gabrielle!" Simon snapped at her, and she went quiet, but silently fumed.

"Where in the world have you been, mutant?! I had the city metro-cops looking everywhere. Many supporters were so kind to visit me in the hospital as I recovered from your malicious attack. And you did blind me, little mutant! But as you can see... I can see!"

"Zik Zak fixed him," Gabrielle smiled proudly. "And they gave him all the resources need to be able to combat your evil kind!" She pointed to the robot Harvey was fiddling with.

"I was supposed to say that!" Simon roared at her.

"Sorry!" Gabrielle stammered.

"You lost your eyesight as well as your mind? One out of two is not bad I guess!" she grumbled.

"Where the hell have you been hiding!?" he demanded, striking the cage again.

"Piss off!" she replied.

"The others of your kind rioted across the city after you tried to kill me. Others just like you! You're not the only freak anymore."

"Horrible!" Gabrielle agreed.

Simon glared at Gabrielle, who smiled helplessly. "Just call me the cheerleader!" she tried.

"I think 'dumb blonde' might be more appropriate," he snarled.

"Let me out you sonofabitch! Where the hell is Kyle!" Christina screamed.

Simon slammed his hand onto a control panel on the outside of the cage. There was a sudden whooshing noise inside, and Christina trembled as a wave of cool air rushed across her skin.

"What'd you do?!" she yelled.

Simon stepped away from the sealed cage, now smiling.

"Er... Mr. Peller sir?" Harvey called.

"Not now!" he called.

Christina banged on the glass. "Let me out!"

"What's that? Can't hear you, shout that again!" he grinned evilly.

The whooshing continued, slower now. Christina felt sick as she realized the air was being sucked out of the chamber.

"You bastard!" she yelled out, pounding on the glass.

"Louder! he demanded.

It was slow at first, but Christina soon found herself breathing harder to take in the same amount of air, she soon found her lungs seeming to expand but seeming to be void of oxygen as well.

"What do you want from me?!"

Simon Peller rolled his eyes, and looked at Gabrielle, who rolled her eyes. Then he turned back to the chamber, glaring into her eyes.

"I want you to die!"

She turned away, looking around desperately for a way out.

"I don't want you to exist anymore! You're not right! You're poison! God forbid you should exist long enough to breed more mutants!"

"Mr. Peller!" Harvey shouted urgently.

" _WHAT, GODDAMMIT!?_ "

"What are you doing?! Let her out of there, NOW!"

Christina discerned the voice as female and that was it. She was down on her knees, searching for a way out.

"Theora?" she begged in a weak voice.

A face loomed in front of hers. It was a young man with brown hair and a light beard.

"Working on a code. The bastard won't give it up." he smiled gently.

"Don't check out, now!"

Christina slumped against the wall.

"You're insane! Simon Peller open that chamber!"

"Go suck eggs, Harriet."

"I got it," the young man said, and with a loud click and a louder hiss, the door swung outward and Christina toppled out.

"Your insufferable, you know that?!" the woman shrilled.

"Can you sit up?" the young man asked. Christina's eyes fluttered and she began coughing wildly.

"Fuck... you!" she gasped, before descending into a nother coughing fit.

"Breathe in!" the young man ordered.

"I'm trying!" she yelped.

The fresh air revived her. What had become dim and muted was now becoming sharp and clear. She looked up and saw the robot moving swiftly around the floor, as Simon Peller and a woman with short brown hair and of a smaller stature faced off, both standing ram-rod straight and facing each-other and just inches apart. The other woman, Gabrielle, was trying to stop the robot and get Harvey out of it.

And near the door were some men in semi-formal dress and all but one had weapons.

"You can't be serious! You're making the biggest mistake ever, by taking custody of this monster. But you got this warped idea in your head that mutants deserve equality. I guarantee you, this will go poorly! Look at me, woman. My eyes are scarred!"

"Simon Peller you're a closed-minded, xenophobic bigot. Don't even dare to exhume all these false platitudes of trying to help her when you did nothing but torment her. I've read all the reports. Christina might be different, but she had a clean record until you 'got involved'. It boggles my mind that such forward-thinking employees at 23 must suffer under your reign of terror against anything you don't like. Did you forget the inquiry and the sworn statements of Edison Carter and Theora Jones-Carter? They gave her stellar reviews!"

Christina's heart seemed to pound harder at the mention of her friends, her family. In the old days she might have thrown herself at Simon's feet and begged for mercy.

"Who are you, and what's going on here!?" Christina demanded the young man.

"Roger," he smiled "Miss Garth here is a champion for your cause. She want's to grant you a sort of... amnesty... you look pale. Can I get you some water?"

"Wait... no... yes... water is fine... unless you got something hard?"

"Heh! Maybe another time. Ok, be right back!"

"Christina Cambell?" Harriet called out, then walked over to her and took her hands gently, warmly. She smiled, and her mouth worked but nothing came out. Finally, she spoke.

"I believe in you. Unlike the campaign my opponent runs, I believe in fairness and equality for all."

"Opponent! Ha! You lost your last run against me!"

She turned to him. "And you lost as well, bigot!"

Roger came back with the water, and Harriet turned back to Christina.

"Come with me. I have a safe place you can go to. With others, like yourself."

"I heard rumors you were hiding mutants, and now I find out it's true. You have no soul, woman! You've opened the door to terrorists and they will ruin this great city of ours!" Simon yelled.

"Wow... he like... never shuts up, does he?" Roger gaped.

Christina stepped back. "Simon, what did you do with Kyle?"

"Ah. Sent him back to Ben Cheviot. He's on parole... as long as he behaves. I hope Ben appreciates this great favor. And before you ask, NO you can't return to Edison Carter and his lovely wife. You had your chance and you blew it after stealing my money, resisting arrest, injuring two metro-cops, and then blinding me!"

Christina turned to Roger. "No, he never shuts up."

"Take her and go. Harriet, get out! Take Christina with you! Any damage she does, and she will, the responsibility lies with you. So go ahead, and prove my point!"

"Mr. Peller!" Gabrielle exclaimed.

"I have bigger and more important things I need to worry about!" he said, just staring as Harvey-robot continued marching around the room.

"You're... running for political office?" Christina asked.

Harriet nodded.

"Against Simon Peller?"

"She'll never win! And why are you still here?!"

"I... really need fresh air!" Christina headed toward the door, Harriet soon followed, and Roger, with a enthusiastic wave to Simon Peller, followed after them.

"Oh, Christ, those two have been together for 3 damn months!" Simon moaned. "Will you stop already!" he demanded. The Harvey-bot stopped in front of him. "I think I'm stuck."

"Good God, it's a miracle you were able to catch those two! I could handle that thing better than you!"

"Maybe you should," Gabrielle said. "Are you sure that letting Christina go with Harriet was such a good idea?"

Peller smirked and smiled knowingly.

"Let her find out the truth the hard way!"


	4. Chapter 4

author's note. yes it has been too long. i had a small window of opportunity in which to move to the land of my dreams, so i took it. opportunity knocked, and i had to answer it! thanks for your continued support!)

...

"I will kill every damn one of you! DEATH, I AM!"  
Then Kyle laughed.

With a bag over his head, and his feet and arms tied securely, he bounced around in the back of the van, as three of Peller's goons prepared to drop him off at Network 23, in the care of his father, Ben Cheviot.  
"You're afraid! Oh, good! You should be afraid! Cos I'm totally gonna kill the shit out of you!"

"Stop it!" one of the guards shouted with fear in his voice.  
Kyle laughed louder. It was so loud he started coughing.

"Shut up, you monster!" Gabrielle called out from the front seat. Then she turned back to the front as the van continued on its way.  
She insisted on coming, even though Mr. Peller warned against it. He didn't want any of his people near any "damn dirty mutants" as he put it in the most furious voice he could muster, which actually wasn't hard these days.  
He had changed in the last three months.  
Gabrielle had been his nurse in the 2 weeks without his eyesight. Every night for 14 days, he had nightmares. In his waking times he was angrier than ever, often snapping at her, and even throwing things. Gabrielle put up with all of it, and occasionally he was even grateful she stood by him.  
Then Zik Zak came forward with an offer he would never refuse; they would restore his eyesight, if he committed himself to ending "the mutant menace" once and for all. They would provide him with hardware he would need to accomplish this daunting task, including mechanical robots programmed and designed to combat mutants on a rampage(IE, caught after curfew or just in public, seen to close to normal people, they just looked like a mutant, and any number of xenophobic ideas. Peller promised, and upon a full restoration to optical health, filed the paperwork necessary to run for office, one final time.  
And Gabrielle swore her support.

""That's it," she pointed at the 23 parking structure. "Let's get him dropped off and fast. He's giving me the creeps!"

So, the deed was done, and a security guard arrived to escort him to his father's office. Of course, Kyle would have none of it.  
"You can't tell daddy, I'm home. I need to go see my little friend with the glasses. Oh, come on! They took my girlfriend away from me! All I need now is just need to see my little friend!"

x-x-x  
"Oh... yes... he's here. He got here safe and it took me 30.567 minutes to figure it out... Kyle that's your brother!"

Kyle looked mad.  
"But... I thought he was a vegetable... "

Kyle rubbed his head, looking all around carefully.  
"No, Christina fixed it. Christina... she's in a safe place... "  
"Ahh, she patched his brain! Hey, I developed a mutant-detecting-program... uh, alter... huh! Well, I need to get it 'on the air'. That might be difficult. They made me promise not to do anything 'weird'."  
"Bryce he's gone! He's not here!"  
Bryce pointed. "He's back there, sleeping... oh... " Bryce realized "he told me he'd stay put till you got here! Does... he have powers?"  
"Come on!" Kyle demanded, grabbing his arm and dragging him from the lab.

x-x-x  
Tommy left because he was hungry, and he remembered the vending machine he passed on the way to Bryce's lab. He stood in front of it, puzzling over what he wanted, when a lovely woman with dark hair came up beside him.  
"You're lovely," he said with a grin.  
"Well, thank you! Are you a new intern here?"

"I'm waiting for my cousin, Kyle. He doesn't know I'm here it's a surprise, so no telling," he replied innocently.

She grabbed his shoulder, startling him. "Kyle... Cheviot! He's here?"  
"Uh... well... " he pulled away, looking hard at the machine. Her suddenly-frantic tone put him off.  
"Do you have three coins? Takes three coins." He pointed to the machine, trying to distract her.  
"Where is Christina!?"  
Now the woman asked about Christina? He couldn't say anything about her being taken by a giant robot, could he?

"She... was... taken by a giant robot... " he tried.

"What?! No!" she screamed.  
"I had nothing to do with it, honest. She and Kyle told me to run for my life! They told me to find Bryce Lynch and that's what I did!"  
The vending machine suddenly dispensed all of its products. Food coming out clogged the chutes, and the drinks made the machine short circuit and began sparking.  
A door on the other end of the corridor swung open.  
"Theora!" Edison cried out. Kyle came in behind him, followed by Bryce.  
"Back to my lab! Hurry!" Bryce cried out, as Edison went for Theora and Kyle picked up his shaking brother from the floor.  
He saw what had happened to the vending machine and went "Hmmm!" very loudly.  
"Edison! He... he knows where Christina is!" Theora cried out, clinging to him.  
"This better be good Kyle!" Edison warned.

"Oh, crap!" Bryce realized.

"Come on! If daddy finds out there will be hell to pay!" Kyle said, one arm around Tommy and moving off fast.  
"Relax. You're safe here."  
"I won't see him, and I won't talk to him. Kyle... I hate him!"  
"Please erase those surveillance tapes, little friend!"

Bryce huffed angrily, but did as Kyle told him.

"What's going on!" Edison demanded.  
"Spill it, Kyle! What happened?" Edison demanded. Theora stood beside him, wiping the tears from her eyes.  
Kyle, what happened to Christina. Kyle, I can take it!"

"I don't think so... but you don't have to. She's safe... well safer... she knows it, I'll deal with it... " he shrugged "she's with Harriet Garth."  
"You're joking!" Theora gasped.  
Tommy snuck off quietly, back to Bryce's room. Edison watched carefully  
"Can everyone just tone it down?" Kyle begged.

"Done!" Bryce said. "Please note, I think we all benefit from this! That's why I did it!"

"Kyle!" Theora begged.

Now in Bryce's lab, safe from the eyes of the outside world, and video surveillance of the rather ugly incident erased from computer memory and history, Kyle went to his brother, and placed a hand on his shoulder gently, even lovingly.  
"Please, Kyle, please! You promised!"

"Righto, Edison!" Kyle stepped back. He flashed Bryce the peace sign with a little reluctance, then turned to Edison and Theora.  
"It's exactly what you think."  
"What exactly do I think, Kyle?" Edison queried, as Theora left his side, and headed back.  
"You can trust her, she's good!" Kyle yelled. Theora stopped momentarily, then continued.

"My brother... we brought him back, because he wanted it... well mostly. I'm his family, Christina will be his sister-in-law one day... my brother can think for himself now!" Kyle explained with pride.

However, Edison was not happy at all, but before Kyle could brag further, the gate to Bryce's room slammed shut, and Theora gasped. "Oh, God!"  
She came back quickly.  
"Does he have powers too?" Edison bit out.  
"Everything's in control. We think it has to do with Christina fixing his brain. It unlocked his power."  
"Tell me she's in a safe place!" Theora begged.  
"Well... there is no safe place for us... just safer... she's with Harriet Garth."  
It was like a thunderclap all around them. Theora covered her face with her hands, Bryce said "WHOAH!" and Edison was still, quiet, yet the fury in his eyes was evident, as were other things.  
"Headache!" Kyle pointed to his skull.  
""Surely she must know that Harriet Garth is using her to win the upcoming election... altogether not a bad idea but still... "  
Theora was sighing and weeping in relief. "Well, anything is better than Simon Peller... I think?" She looked at Edison. "I know she's a politician but other than that... "  
He didn't look encouraged by that, so she turned back to Kyle.  
"We need to see her," Theora stated.  
"We all do!" Kyle frowned."We had no idea about the robots."

"I'm sorry, miss." Tommy came out from the back, and sat in a chair. "My dad... I can't see him... I don't want to see him."  
He looked sad and lost. Edison stormed out of the lab, and Theora followed.

"She fixed him!" Edison gaped.  
"She... she meant well. I guess she was trying to make up for what happened with Peller. " Theora tried.

"They brought him back _here_! Theora, does she even know what she did?!"

(in the next chapter, a special easter egg just for you, the reader, if you can guess what she did?! :p )


End file.
